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Opening Date

11 Jun 2025

Rating

PG Some Intense Sequences

激烈惊险画面

Runtime

125 mins

Language

English with English & Chinese subtitles

Genre

Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Director

Dean DeBlois

Cast

Mason Thames, Nico Parker, Gerard Butler, Nick Frost, Gabriel Howell, Julian Dennison, Bronwyn James, Harry Trevaldwyn, Peter Serafinowicz

Synopsis

On the rugged isle of Berk, where Vikings and dragons have been bitter enemies for generations, Hiccup stands apart. The inventive yet overlooked son of Chief Stoick the Vast, Hiccup defies centuries of tradition when he befriends Toothless, a feared Night Fury dragon. Their unlikely bond reveals the true nature of dragons, challenging the very foundations of Viking society.

Reviews

By InCinemas 11 Jun 2025

A soaring example of a great live-action remake.

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We’re deep in the trenches of seeing our beloved animated films getting the live-action treatment whether we like it or not. While not many have appeased fans the way they should, there are a handful of success stories to come out of this.

Now, DreamWorks has thrown their hat in the mix with the studio's first live-action remake of their animated classic, How To Train Your Dragon. Captivating an audience of all ages when it was released back in 2010, original co-director Dean DeBlois returns to recapture the magic in this reimagining, taking on bigger duties as co-producer, writer and sole director. The film stars Mason Thames, Nico Parker, Nick Frost, Julian Dennison, Gabriel Howell, Bronwyn James, Harry Trevaldwyn, Peter Serafinowicz, and more; with Gerard Butler reprising his role as Stoick the Vast from the animated films.

How To Train Your Dragon is set in the fictional isle of Berk where vikings hunt and kill dragons for wrecking their village and stealing their livestock. It is immaculately shot against the remarkable views of Northern Island that lend to the other-worldly imagery of this made up world. Composer John Powell (who worked on the original) returns with a transcendent all-encompassing score that flawlessly compliments Bill Pope’s stunning cinematography.

The fantasy adventure film follows the story of Hiccup, son of Stoick the chief of the village. He’s wiry and mousy, far from the dragon-slaying viking his commanding father is. But where he loses out on brawn, he gains in wisdom and compassion. Hiccup has a creative flair, intending to take down the dragons with his innovative devices instead. He is unfortunately overlooked and shunned for his weakness, with no one believing he shot down a Night Fury, a rare elusive dragon no one has seen. Hiccup searches for the dragon in the forest but cannot bring himself to kill it when he does. Instead, he sets it free and eventually befriends it, naming it Toothless. Thus begins a magical tale of a beautiful friendship paired with thrilling adventure and exhilirating action.

There’s no replacing Butler for a role he’s so tuned to, as if lending his voice to Stoick all those years ago was just a sampler leading up to this moment to show just how much he was meant to physically play a brute viking on the big screens. But the film truly struck gold with finding an endearing lead in Thames, who looks almost too chiseled to play the dorky Hiccup but triumphs in capturing the character’s unique essence and bearing the weight of being the heart and soul of the film with ease.

Some of the writing and execution tend to lean toward cartoonish and unnatural at times but we’ll forgive it for try to match the energy of an animated film. Those familiar with the original will find this too much of a copy-paste though that’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially since DeBlois and co. managed to create a faithful adaptation that honours the best bits of the original and instill the same measure of wonderment and emotional beats 15 years later. It’s a rare case of catching lighting in a bottle twice.

Clearly a lot of care and thought were put into making this a respectable adaptation and the success of How To Train Your Dragon (2025) makes a strong case for live-action remakes to co-exist with their animated counterparts.
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